Sliding-door structure.



No. 633,290. Patented Sept. [9, I899.

A. NEWELL.

SLIDING DOOR STRUCTURE (Application filed June 9, 1898.)

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No. 633,290. Patented Sept. :9, i899. A. NEWELL.

SLIDING DOOR STRUCTURE.

(Application filed June 9, 1898.)

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AUGUSTUS NEWELL, OF PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO DANIELSCHUYLER, OF SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA.

SLIDING-DOOR STRUCTURE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Iietters Patent No. 633,290, datedSeptember 19, 1899. Applioation filed June 9,1898. Serial No. 683,042.(No model.)

T at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS NEWELL, re siding at Pasadena, in thecounty of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new anduseful Sliding-Door Structure, of

which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to economize space in buildings. I providea very simple, economical, and practicable sliding door to structureadapted to do away with swinging doors, thus to economize the space inthe rooms which is necessary for the accommodation of swinging doors. Iprovide a sliding door which is as inexpensive as a swinging door, thisbeing accomplished by a structure that is capable of being factory madein toto, so that the structure is made complete ready for insertion intothe building.

My invention is more economical of space than ordinary sliding doors,and by my invention I am able to mount sliding doors in a very thinlathed and plastered partition having a single row of studding of thesizes now in common use instead of the double row, as 2 5 required bypresent methods, and yet provide against any danger of the door gettingout of fix. I eifect a large economy of space and material over theordinary forms of sliding doors in the partitions of buildings.

A further object is to provide a very simple and economical overheadsupport for the door-hangers, whereby I avoid any danger of sagging ordisplacement of the parts.

Another object of this invention is to prevent the formation of any openrunways or air-passages in the partitions from other parts of thebuilding to the door. By my construction the door fits into a perfectlytight pocket in the partition, which does not communicate 40 with anyother hollow portion of the partition and which practically fits thedoor. This prevents all drafts of air and any danger of the entranceorexit of mice or vermin into or from the partition.

A further object isto provide a perfect gage to gage the space betweenthe top rail and track-rail of the track, so as to do away with thenecessity of measurements and to secure accuracy without any adjustmentsor regu- 5o latiug apparatus.

' A further object is to give ready access to the door-hangers forrepairs.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention. I

Figure 1 is a fragment-a1 perspective View of my newly-inventedsliding-door structure inserted into a building. Portions arebroken awayto expose parts that would otherwise be hidden. Fig. 2 is a fragmentalsectional detail on line 2 2,- Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa section on line 3 3,Fig. 1, omitting the door and easing.

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal mid-sectional detail of the bracketand end of the rail.

My invention comprises the combination of a top rail A, end posts 13 B,which are ordinary studding of common size, rigidly fixed to the toprail to support the same, an intermediate stud B, rigidly fixed t0 thetop rail and slotted, as at b, to receive the door, a lowerdoor-hanger-supporting rail C, on suitable supports beneath the top railA and extending through the slot, a door D, hangers E E for the door,provided with wheels 6 6', running on the lower. rail 0 and nearly butnot quite in contact with the lower face of the top rail A. The lowerface of the top rail is preferably formed of a metallic plate a.

a a indicate two cleats secured to the main body A of the top rail byscrews or nails and provided with gains a, which seat the opposite edgesof the metal face-plate to hold the plate flat against the underside ofthe wooden body of the top rail, thus insuring a perfectly smooth trackagainst which the wheels will impinge in case of any raising of the doorwhich might withdraw the wheels from "the lower or track rail 0.

The door-hangers in the preferred form are provided with wheels groovedto run upon the rail, and in the drawings I have shown a hanger whichstraddles the rail and fastens to the opposite sides of the door. Thishanger forms the subject-matter of a separate invention and is describedand claimed in my application, Serial No. 683,041, which is filed (June9, 1898) simultaneously herewith, and for that reason no claim is madein this application for the said hanger. My door structure,- however,may be used with other forms of hangers; but in order to adapt it forthis improved form of hanger the rail is supported at its ends bybrackets F F, each of which is provided with a fulcrum extension fftoward the middle of said rail to support the rail,

and with a tension device, which may be of any suitable character, butpreferably a screw, as at f", to draw downward upon the free ends ofsaid rails to produce a tension in the intermediate body of the rail tokeep the rail straight under the weight of the door. By this means therail is given such rigidity that in any ordinary use there will bepractically no deflection of the rail. These brackets are made of metaland are rectangular and are provided with a channel 1, into which theend of the rail is set, and the screw f extends up through the bottomarm 2 near the upright arm 3 of the bracket. The upright arm 3 isprovided with screw-holes 3, through which screws are inserted into theend post of the structure, and said upright arm is also preferablyprovided with a horizontal extension at parallel with the lower arm 2and provided with a screw-hole 4, through which a screw is inserted intothe top rail. The height of the bracket thus forms an accurate gage togage the exact distance between the upper and lower rails, and thewheels of the hanger are thus given just sufficient play to allow themto run free of one rail when they are in contact with the other, so thatin case the door is lifted, thus raising one or both of thehanger-wheels out of contact with the running-rail, such wheel or wheelswill at once engage the top rail and will thereby be prevented frombeing displaced from the track. Any danger of friction by contact of onewheel with both rails at once is thus avoided. It will be understoodthat it is immaterial so far as this operation is concerned whether thewheel or the track is grooved. The operation would be the same in eitherinstance.

In practice the structure is completed at the mill, and the end posts 13B and the middle posts B" may extend to any desired length above the toprail, thus to reach from floor to ceiling of the story where used. Thisis indicated by the broken studding above the top rail in Fig. 1; but itis to be understood that it is not essential to this structure that theposts should extend above the top rail- The middle or slotted studding'B is preferably built up of three members 12 19 b and to give perfectrigidity to the members b 19 and form a firm support or backing for thelathing I provide braces Z), connecting them to one of the end studdingsor posts.

The several members of the frame in which the door is hung are joinedtogether by gains and mortises, as indicated in the drawings, in orderto give absolute rigidity to the structure.

In practice the structure complete, with the door in place, may beshipped from the factory to the building ready to be inserted into theplace which has been provided for it by the architect, and the membersof the structure are to be so securely fastened together that there willbe no racking and no displacement of any of the parts, and after thebuilding is completed there will be no danger of any relativedisplacement of parts, such as is liable to occur where the structure isa part of the building instead of being a separate manufacture joinedbefore being placed into the building.

It is to be noted that in case of anysagging of the building there is noliability of any displacement of the two rails relative to each otherand that there is no liability of any displacement of parts which willbind the door and prevent it from operating, even if the building shouldsettle.

G indicates diagonal lathing nailed to the end post B and the members ofthe middle post B, respectively, to close the structure on that side ofthe door-opening which chambers the door. The pocket or closed portion Hthus forms a part of the partition-wall. In practice the lathing isnailed to the studding 3 B and the braces b. The studding, when thestructure is in place, are fastened at their lower ends to the floor Iof the building and at their upper ends preferably to the ceilingjoistsJ.

K indicates a pin projecting from the floor I into a groove d in thebottom edge of the door to prevent the door from swaying.

L indicates cushions to receive the door to prevent any undesirable jaror noise in case the door is closed or opened violently.

M indicates plaster over the lathing to complete the walls of thepocket.

The channeled rail-supporting arms of the brackets prevent any lateralmovement of the track-rail.

N indicates removable sections of the doorcasing, which extend down infront of the upper part of the door to hide the hangers E E, which areset far enough from the edges of the door to be covered by such strip.

In case it is desired for any reason to remove the door the screws n,which hold the removable sections in place, are removed,thus allowingthe sections N to be removed, thusgiving access to the screws 2', whichfasten the hangers to the door. By removing the screws e" from the doorand hangers the door is released and can be removed.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a door-hanger-supporting rail; brackets for theends of said rail with fulcrum extensions toward the middle of said railto support the rail; and tension devices to draw down the free ends ofsaid rails to produce a tension in the inter mediate body of the rail.

2. The combination with the top rail, trackrail and end posts, ofbrackets fastened to the end posts respectively and providedrespectively with a rail-supporting arm which carries the track-rail,and with an upright arm to extend to the under face of the top rail,thus forming an accurate and fixed gage for the distance between the tworails.

3. Thetrack-gagingbrackethavingatrackrail-supporting arm with track-railfulcrum thereon and an upright arm to form in conjunction with saidfulcrum a fixed gage for the space between the top and lower rails ofthe track.

4. A supporting-bracket for the rails of sliding doors comprising anupright arm to fasten against a support; two arms projecting therefrom,one being provided in its upper face with a channel to receive thedoorsupporting rail, and with a fulcrum at the outer end of the channel,and the other arm being above the channeled arm with the plane of itsupper surface at a fixed distance perpendicularly from the fulcrum.

crums and the end posts.

AUGUSTUS NEVVELL.

Witnesses:

JAMES R. TOWNSEND, ALFRED I. TOWNSEND.

